Golden Chiffon Cake

A tall foam cake baked in an ungreased tube pan and cooled upside down, with a coconut-covered marshmallow frosting. Its light, fine crumb depends on the weak gluten of cake flour.

Untested: not yet made in this kitchen. It is here as the showcase for one flour in the Flour section and is adapted from the source named in the Notes.

Ingredients

Cake

• 2 cups (240 g) cake flour
• 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar (first addition)
• 2 teaspoons (8 g) baking powder
• ½ teaspoon (2 g) salt
• 7 large egg yolks (120 g), room temperature
• ½ cup (120 ml) vegetable, corn, canola or safflower oil
• ½ cup (120 ml) filtered water
• 2 teaspoons (8 g) pure vanilla extract
• 8 large egg whites (240 g), room temperature
• ½ teaspoon (2 g) cream of tartar
• ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar (second addition)

Marshmallow frosting and topping

• 4 large egg whites (120 g)
• ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
• ½ teaspoon (2 g) cream of tartar
• ½ teaspoon (2 g) vanilla extract
• 2 cups (150 g) flaked coconut, toasted

Directions

1. Prepare. Heat the oven to 325 °F (165 °C). Use an ungreased two-piece 10-inch tube pan.
2. Yolk batter. Beat the flour, the first cup of sugar, the baking powder and salt together. Make a well and beat in the yolks, oil, water and vanilla until smooth, about 1 minute.
3. Whites. Whip the whites until foamy, add the cream of tartar, and whip to soft peaks. Add the second ½ cup of sugar gradually and whip to stiff peaks.
4. Fold the whites into the yolk batter in three additions.
5. Bake 55–60 minutes, until a skewer comes out clean.
6. Cool upside down. Invert the pan immediately onto the neck of a bottle and cool completely, 1–1½ hours, before loosening.
7. Toast the coconut at 325 °F for 10–15 minutes.
8. Frosting. Whisk the whites, sugar and cream of tartar over simmering water until they reach 160 °F (71 °C), then whip to stiff peaks with the vanilla. Frost the cake and cover it with the toasted coconut.

Notes

Source Adapted from Stephanie Jaworski, “Golden Chiffon Cake,” Joy of Baking.

A correction to the source’s numbers The source gives the oil as “120 ml/grams.” 120 ml of oil weighs about 110 g, not 120; measure it by volume. (Water at 120 ml is 120 g.)

Why this flour Chiffon rises on whipped whites and must set before it collapses, so it wants the weakest gluten available. Bleached cake flour is low in protein and its starch has been modified by chlorine, which helps it hold a heavy, sweet batter. For comparison, King Arthur’s own chiffon cake uses the same weight of unbleached all-purpose flour (240 g) in the same 10-inch pan — a direct way to taste the difference.

Safety The frosting whites are heated to 160 °F (71 °C) specifically to address salmonella.

The Flour section of the Food site covers the history, the science, milling, label systems and every flour used here.

The photo The photograph shows an unfrosted, speckled (tea-flavoured) chiffon cake, not this recipe’s coconut-frosted golden chiffon.